Apple Reaffirms Commitment To Encryption

Apple senior vice president of software engineering Craig Federighi discusses the company's use of encryption in its devices at the 2016 WWDC.

Apple announced today it was applying "differential privacy" research to keep users information private, a move that bolster's the company's standing as a leader in digital privacy. Executives at Apple's annual developer conference in San Francisco also emphasized the company's commitment to using encryption by default to protect customer's data.

"In every feature we use... we make sure to use end-to-end encryption by default," said Craig Federighi, Apple senior vice president of software engineering, on Monday, adding that "users deserve" strong privacy controls.

Apple CEO Tim Cook sparked a national debate earlier this year when he penned an open letter challenging the FBI's demand that the smartphone maker help it break into an iPhone owned by one of the San Bernardino, Calif. shooters. The letter sparked weeks of intense backlash from digital privacy advocates and consumers, culminating in a Congressional hearing over government access to private information and a slew of 'friend of the court' amicus briefs filed in support of Apple by Silicon Valley's biggest tech companies. The standoff came to an end when government investigators said they were able to hack into the phone--an iPhone 5c running an older version of the company's iOS software--without Apple's help.

While the San Bernardino case garnered the most attention, it isn't the only one involving access to encrypted information stored on iPhones. The American Civil Liberties Union identified more than 60 similar cases around the country; some are still pending.